Many of Razorbacks' fans gray hairs and ulcers can be blamed on the last three meetings between the former Southwest Conference rivals, Arkansas and Texas A&M. The past two games needed an overtime to be decided, the one before that, the winning score was made with only 10 minutes left in the game.

Advertisement

Arkansas has been on the losing end of each of those meetings. In fact, they haven't beaten the Aggies since 2011, when they won 42-38.

This year's Southwest Classic between the No. 17 Razorbacks (3-0, 0-0), and No. 10 Aggies (3-0, 1-0) are set for another epic showdown but both teams are boasting a lot of “new” this season.

Starting with the quarterback, TAMU's Trevor Knight, the former Oklahoma sooner, is in his first season starting for the Aggies. The senior is completing 52.9% of his passes, for a total of 830 yards and five touchdowns. Arkansas' Austin Allen, in his first year as a starter, is completing 67.1% of his chances for 655 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Aggies also have a new offensive coordinator. TAMU head coach Kevin Sumlin went west to bring Noel Mazzone out of UCLA and into College Station. During Mazzone's previous four-year gig as offensive coordinator with the Bruins, UCLA set the school's single season team records for passing, scoring and total offense, but also had thousand-yard rushers in three of his four years.

Where this game will be won or lost, however, is at the line of scrimmage. When you Google, “Texas A&M,” one of the first suggested finishes for your thought, is “defensive line.” That’s because the Aggies line boasts not one, but two projected 2017 NFL draft picks. Myles Garrett, a 6-5, 262 pound junior will be on one side, and Daeshon Hall, coming in at 6-6, 260 pounds, will be on the other. Lose sight of either of them, and Allen will spend most of his time on his back, admiring Jerry World’s huge glass dome.

“Lots of times, you see those so-called pass rushers and they don’t like to mix it up, but you can’t say that about these two guys,” said Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos.

“The way you design your offense or call the game, the fact that either one of those ends can change the game at a moment’s notice,” Enos went on. “You’ve got to be high awareness for them and you’ve got to have a plan for them.”

The good news for Arkansas, if their young line can rally around veterans like Frank Ragnow and Dan Skipper, and manage those two, the Hogs have a good chance of establishing the run game and taking the pass rush threat out of the game.

When Arkansas is on defense, they have to figure out how to cover Chrsitian Kirk. The sophomore burned the Hogs' secondary last year with eight catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Kirk is their deep ball threat, and Henre' Toliver and Santos Ramirez will be charged with keeping him in their sights, and away from the endzone; far from an easy task.

On the ground, Knight is nearly as much of a running threat as any of his backs, especially in the red zone. Knight has scored three rushing touchdowns through the first three games of 2016, plus has 151 yards on the ground. The two backs, Keith Ford, and Trayveon Williams have combined for four touchdowns and 391 yards, with Williams hauling in 236 of those.

The players to watch this week on defense will be Toliver and Ramirez, who are going to be the main ones charged with covering Kirk and Josh Reynolds, another slot receiver. If they can cover the Aggies’ slot guys, Ryan Pulley and Jared Collins can hold down the outside.

When the Hogs are on offense, keep an eye on Brian Wallace, listed as starting right tackle. He will bear the brunt of the Aggies pass rush, and as a redshirt sophomore who saw action in only three games last season, could be the weak spot in the line Texas A&M tries to exploit.